If you have a lot of recipes and cookbooks and still have no idea what to cook most days, then you probably need to organize your recipes.
Even if you are the type of person that likes to wing it with meal creation, having easy access to your recipe collection can rescue you in a pinch.
Following are lots of great ideas for organizing recipes…
For starters, if you search for “organize recipes” on Thrifty Fun, you’ll find a treasure trove of ideas that will help you get your recipes organized (over 3,500 fun ways to organize recipes!)
Some of my favorites include:
- Use a photo album to organize recipes.
With this method, you make a copy of the recipe card front and back or print it full page. Then, insert that page into your recipe photo album. Photo albums with pages that can be moved around and re-arranged will work especially well, because your recipe collection is sure to grow and your favorites will change. - Use a 3-ring binder to organize recipes.
If you print pages from the Internet, or clip recipes from magazines, then a simple 3-ring binder with protective sleeves is a great way to keep your recipes all in one place. You can organize your entire recipe collection this way. - Have a dedicated recipe computer.
This is the method I am planning. We have several old laptops lying around the house, I think this is a great use for an old computer that works well, but has a sluggish operating system. I think I might have an Internet connection on it too, so I can email myself recipes to put into my recipe database. A computer in the kitchen makes perfect sense these days.
Great Resources Filled With Tips For Organizing Recipes
Organizing Your Recipes: 8 Foolproof Methods – how to create a filing system that will help you access your recipes with ease.
Cook It… Quick! – how to get your recipes organized and separated in logical order.
How To Organize Recipes – using file tabs to keep all of your recipes organized by category.
Basic Tips For Organizing Recipes – lots of great ideas are briefly mentioned here.
Finally, A Way To Organize Recipes – get your kids involved!
Online Recipe Searches With Shopping List Integration
If you like the adventure of the hunt, there are many websites online that will not only supply you with new recipes every day, but will also organize your shopping list for you.
We Gotta Eat is a fun, interactive tool that allows you to print recipes, share them with your friends, add photos, edit recipes to customize them for future use. And you can organize your shopping list, too.
Here are lots of online recipe databases that help you find recipes using ingredients you already have on hand.
And if you really like accessing and organizing recipes online, then you will love Evernote. It allows you to access your recipes on your iPhone, or on any computer.
Why would you need to access recipes on your cell phone? Well, according to Ward Street Bistro, “If I see something at the market that catches my eye — a seasonal goodie or an item on special — I can easily type in the ingredient and pull up recipe options on my iPhone.”
This allows her to pick up the other ingredients she needs in order to complete the recipe. Another reason for using Evernote for recipes: you can review a recipe quickly without having to fire up the computer! (Evernote’s iPhone app can access everything you’ve saved in Evernote on your computer as well.)
Popular Recipe Organizing Programs
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I have been a certified tightwad since I became pregnant with my first child and decided to find a way to stay home with him. I enjoy sharing my experiences in my journey back to financial health and planning for a future — which will include sending 2 kids to college and early retirement.
